Innocent
by just like our last
Summary: It's alright, just wait and see. Your string of lights is still bright to me...
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: This is my first multi-chapter fic. I know this chapter's short, and a bit rushed and boring, but the way it's done was how it had to be done to get on with the rest of the story. The rest of the story will be better, I promise. I'll try to update soon. It might be as much as a week or two between updates, though, depending on how busy I am.**

**Disclaimer: Victorious belongs to Dan.**

Life promises you a lot of things. Love, happiness, and all that sappy junk. And sometimes, if you're an overly optimistic freak of nature, like Cat, you actually believe that you'll get everything life supposedly promises. I, on the other hand, learned better than that.

Love's a myth. There's no way such a pitifully sappy and supposedly amazing emotion could ever exist in a world like the one I live in. Beck was the closest thing I was ever gonna get to that, and even that wasn't very close.

At least, that's what I used to believe. Everything changed the day Trina Vega's younger sister showed up at Hollywood arts. I had thought that Tori would be just like her obnoxious older sister, but damn, was I wrong.

For the first time in as long as I could remember, Tori made me _feel_. And let me tell you, with someone like me, that in itself is a huge accomplishment.

I'm guessing by now you can see where this is going. I guess you probably want to know exactly what happened, and why it happened.

Fine, I'll tell you. It's high time I told someone, anyway.

It all started one day when Tori came to school with an extra big smile on her face and declared that she had gotten an audition with some really important music manager who's name I don't even care to remember. But he was rich and famous and important and according to Tori this was a huge opportunity.

Jealousy bubbled in my stomach as I eyed her, and then I told her, in the voice I reserve solely for mocking her, "Well, that's swell news!"

"I don't talk like that!" She retorted, as I had expected. I rolled my eyes, but she was too thrilled by her recently gained opportunity to let me upset her for long.

The day droned on. Tori wouldn't shut up about her audition. Everyone else was eager to give their input, suggesting songs for her to cover and insisting that they'd help Tori practice. I was the only one that was silent, remaining distant and cold.

The temporary emotional detachment from the world, however, did not prepare me for what happened that afternoon, when I was about to get into Beck's car for him to drive me home, as he usually did.

"Jade, we need to talk," he began. Instantly I know that couldn't be good. No conversation starting with 'we need to talk' ever ended well. I knew enough about life by now to know that.

"Yeah?" I asked casually. "What about?"

"I... I think we need to... go our separate ways." He gulped, his eyes searching mine.

"What? You mean you're breaking up with me?" I demanded. No, he couldn't do this. Beck was the ounce of sanity I had. He couldn't break up with me.

"...Yeah." But he said nothing else. I didn't know what else to say, either. So before he could even apologize or say the all-too-common 'but we can still be friends', I stormed off down the street, away, out of sight.

I couldn't handle this. No. Beck did not just break up with me. My emotions raged, anger taking over, tears stinging my eyes. I was more angry than sad. In fact, looking back on it, I wasn't sad at all. I was just angry. I was angry that, after so much time, we had come to an end so quickly. I was angry that he had been so calm, as though he had been planning to break up with me for a long time. I was angry that to him, we could just be brushed aside, broken apart in less than thirty seconds. That was that, and it was all said and done.

So, of course, I had to do what I always did when I was angry. I had to destroy something. I had to make someone else miserable. I had to take my anger out on something or someone else, however selfish that seemed. I just wasn't thinking. I'm never thinking when I'm angry.

The first person to my mind was Tori, who was usually the object of my tormenting. And then I remembered how happy she had been that morning. And so, during the long walk home I did my research, looked up the important guy that Tori would be auditioning for that weekend, and dialed his number. Pressing the phone to my ear, I smirked.

"Hello? I'm Tori Vega. I'd like to cancel my audition this weekend." I spoke in the voice I always used for mocking Tori, and was pleasantly surprised when he bought it. Tori talked more like my mockery than she thought, apparently. "Okay, thank you ever so much! I'm glad you understand." Clicking the phone closed, I smiled with satisfaction. It was not until long after this was all over that I realized I was not satisfied at all.

Hurting Tori had only ended up destroying me more than breaking up with Beck ever did.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: So today I discovered that for multi-chapter fics, you have to save each chapter as a different document. And now my mom and siblings are gonna wonder why there are a billion pieces of Victorious fanfiction floating all over the file folders by the time I'm done this story. Why can't it just be all together? I don't understand. XP**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Victorious, you'd see more Jori, and I wouldn't be sitting around writing fanfiction. Trust me.**

Almost two weeks later, I had mostly gotten over the break up, and not much had changed. Still, I was eager to see Tori's reaction when she found out what I had done. Today was the day of the audition, and she was finally going to find out that there was no audition anymore. Friday afternoon was spent doing last minute rehearsing in the Blackbox theatre. The whole gang was there, including me, if only because I wanted to see her reaction. When she was finally ready for her audition, all dolled up and excited, Andre started doing a last-minute sound check to assure that everything was perfect, and Tori hurried around the room declaring that he would be here any minute. Whoever he was. I still don't remember that guy's name. It was never important, I suppose.

I went backstage with the others and we waited for him to arrive, even though I knew he never would. Like I said, I was in it for her reaction. The minutes ticked by and soon enough he was thirty minutes late. An hour. Two hours. Everyone finally decided that something was up, even though I knew what it was. I remained ever silent as Tori dialed the man's number and pressed the phone to her ear desperately.

"Hello? Yes, this is Tori Vega. I was wondering why you're not here for the… what? No, I-I never canceled. What do you mean? Someone that sounded just like me…? Well, okay. Thank you. I'm sorry. I understand. Okay. Goodbye." Her voice cracked, her eyes clouding with tears as she ended the call and looked up at her friends. "He said someone that sounded just like me called in my name and canceled the audition…" She let a tear fall down her cheek, and Cat instantly rushed over to her and flung her arms around Tori. Andre, Robbie, and Beck mumbled apologies, sounding genuinely sad and disappointed as they all pondered who would have done such a thing. I waited in the background for someone to guess correctly.

It was Tori who did. It dawned on the brunette, anger bubbling from her as suddenly as the sadness had a few moments before. "Jade," She declared, narrowing her eyes as she stepped towards me. "Why?" She asked, her voice pleading, her eyes now revealing both anger and despair as they met mine. I could hardly bear to look at her.

"I…" I started, not even sure what to say.

"I know you hate me, Jade, but I didn't think you hated me _that_ much!" Tori cut me off, practically yelling. "That audition could have changed my life! It was an amazing opportunity! You ruin everything, Jade! And I don't even know _why_! I try to be nice to you, but you hate me for no reason! And now you've ruined this and I can't even fix it!" She was crying freely now as she yelled at me, her red face inches from mine. "Why did you do this? Why do you hate me?" With those words, she stormed out of the room, sobbing with her face in her hands, leaving me speechless and shocked. I didn't know what to say. I didn't know what to do, or how to react. All I knew is that I had hurt her, and for whatever reason, it was hurting me too, even though I didn't let that show.

Cat hurried after Tori, determined to comfort her. Robbie, Beck, and Andre looked at me with stunned, disappointed faces, shaking their heads at me and not even bothering to speak. Not even Rex spoke. No cold, honest remark. It seemed Robbie was too speechless to even make his puppet speak for him.

The three boys packed up and went home, only muttering to each other on occasion to ask where a certain piece of equipment went, or what setting to leave the lights on, or something like that. I sat in one of the many chairs in the Blackbox theatre as they did this, mentally debating whether or not to go home. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do.

Cat came back inside after the three boys had left. "Where'd everyone go?" She asked, cocking her head.

"Home," I replied with a shrug. "How's Tori?"

"I've never seen her so upset," Cat replied. "You really hurt her, Jade. Why'd you do that to her?"

"Because Beck broke up with me, and I had to do something to make Tori miserable, because that's what I always do when I'm angry. And… I guess I went overboard." I sighed, figuring that there was no point in not explaining why I had done it.

She frowned. "You make her miserable just because you're angry? What did she ever do to you?"

A million answers come to mind, all too quick and too confusing. _Because she makes you question who you are. Because you're not sure if you hate her, love her, or both. Because you cannot afford to let her know how much she makes you feel. Because she does nothing but confuse you._

Yet, gulping, I looked at Cat and replied simply with, "I don't know."

"Well, you went too far this time. And you can't fix it." With those words, the usually bubbly little red-head left the room sadly, an oddly serious look on her face.

I got up from my chair after I watched her leave, heading out of the theater to look for Tori.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note (IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ!): This chapter is an apology. An apology on Jade's part, yes, but also an apology from me to you, for not uploading in a while, and for how short and iffy this chapter is, and for the fact that I'm not going to be updating this from now until the end of November. That's right. I'm not going to be writing any fanfiction in November, because it's NaNoWriMo, and I'm doing that. So I'll be dedicating all my writing time to my novel. If you want to keep up with my NaNoWriMo, my dA account and my NaNoWriMo account are both Mimykitty, and I'll likely be posting tidbits of the story and stuff on dA and, of course, on NaNoWriMo. So until then, my fanfiction reading friends, I bid you farewell~ **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Victorious. **

I was surprised to find her sitting on the floor right outside the Blackbox theatre. I almost didn't see her, sitting right next to the door where I could have easily walked past without knowing. Cat was out of sight by now, so I assumed that the little redhead had decided to go home, which left me alone with Tori. I swallowed and looked down at her, waiting for her to look up at me. She must have surely heard the door open right next to her, yet, with her face buried in her knees, she made no indication that she had.

"Tori…" I began, uncertain of what to say. After getting no response, I sat down on the ground next to her, crossing my legs. I looked down. "I'm sorry."

To my surprise, Tori looked up, her wet, red face vacant with shock at the fact that I was apologizing. "No, you're not," she decided finally, frowning. "You're just saying that because Cat told you to."

"Cat didn't actually tell me to apologize," I replied, sighing. It was a struggle to find the right words, and once again I was surprising myself with how much I allowed my emotions to show around Tori. She always brought out emotions in me that no one else could, and while I hated it, I loved it at the same time. "I came here on my own."

She pondered this for a moment, studying me with her steady brown gaze, trying to decide if I was telling the truth.

"Why do you hate me?" She asked suddenly. The same words she had screamed at me in the theatre earlier right before she left, yet so much more calm. So genuine, as though her life depended on knowing the answer to this simple question.

But the answer wasn't near as simple. "I don't," I stated.

She snorted. "Yes you do, Jade. You treat me like I'm the worst thing that's ever happened to you."

My eyes searched for anywhere but her, and yet her gaze, which I felt on my face, drew them back to meet hers, blue staring into brown with intensity and emotion.

"You're… you're the best thing that's ever happened to me," I confessed, suddenly spilling out words without even meaning to. "Tori, you bring out my emotions like no one does. You're the first person in this world that I'm able to be my complete self around. In the year I've known you, you've helped me more than anyone else ever has in my entire life. I treat you the way I do because… because I don't know how else to treat you. Because I've been taught to push people away all my life, and that's what I do."

I watched as Tori broke into a smile, a tear slipping down her cheek. A silent agreement seems to come between us; she doesn't seem to know how to respond. In the end, she settles for reaching over and pulling me into an enormous hug. She cries into my hair as I whisper apologies into her ear, and all is right.


End file.
